The Korean team tried adding large doses of EPPS to the drinking water of mice suffering from Alzheimer’s.

They found that the drug broke down the amyloid beta plaques in the animals’ brains, and appeared to be non-toxic.

Unlike many drugs, EPPS was able to penetrate the “blood-brain barrier” - a natural “firewall” that protects the brain against potentially harmful substances.

Hope: The new tests are "interesting" say scientists (Photo: Getty)

The scientists adopted a cautious approach, concluding: “Additional studies are warranted to determine whether these favourable actions of EPPS and derivatives will translate into a therapy that might potentially be useful across a range of AD (Alzheimer’s disease) stages.”

The fact that the treatment improved learning and memory in the mice was evidence that amyloid beta is a cause of the disease rather than an effect, they said.

British experts welcomed the findings but remained cautious about their significance.

Dr James Pickett, of the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “While new insights into potential ways to treat Alzheimer’s disease are welcome, in this case, it’s too early to say if this will one day benefit people living with Alzheimer’s.

“This study has found a new chemical that could help to clear some forms of amyloid, the toxic protein that is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.

"However, so far this has only been shown in mice, which do not fully replicate several of the important changes that we see in the brains and behaviours of people with dementia.”

New study: The research has had profound effects on mice (Photo: Getty)

Dr Tara Spires-Jones, of the Centre for Cognitive and Neural Systems at the University of Edinburgh , added: “This is a promising preclinical study in a few dozen mice that found a drug treatment that reduced levels of amyloid beta, one of the pathological proteins found in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.

“While very interesting, this potential treatment is a long way from human patients.”

Prof Tom Dening, a dementia expert at the University of Nottingham, said: “From a clinician’s point of view, this research is of interest, but we still don’t know if removing amyloid plaques is useful in humans.

"It may well be that the appearance of plaques is too far down the chain of molecular processes to be beneficial.”

And Dr Simon Ridley, of Alzheimer’s Research UK, cautioned that the research was still at “an early stage”.

He said: “This interesting study in mice uses a chemical able to break down Alzheimer’s plaques in the brain after they’ve already formed, potentially presenting a way to circumvent the difficult issue of timing with this treatment approach.

“While this is an appealing prospect, the research is still at the early stage of being explored in animals.

"Research in animals is an important step in developing any new treatment, but we’ll need to see the findings translated into clinical studies in people before we could know the potential of EPPS to treat Alzheimer’s in humans.”